Government Bribes, Chapter 6 (original, g)
Well, hi. It's been...a while. I made a New Year's Resolution to write more this year, and here's something that's been sitting on my hard drive for a year. I was going to write more, but it seems like a big enough chapter, so I'm posting it. I might write more of this or another project I've been working on for a while. Yeah, okay, doctorfumbles, how many projects do you have again? :) I hope you enjoy!
Title: Government Bribes - Chapter 6
Author: doctorfumbles
Rating: pg13
Word Count: 2195
Fandom: Original (Government Bribes)
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Lily, Leo, Agent Sanders, Natalya, Lidiya
Summary: Trouble looms over the horizon as Leo's tutor, and her sister, are both interested in Charlie.
Disclaimer: fic-tion n. something feigned, invented, or imagined; a made-up story
Seventeen years ago, in a town between San Francisco and Monterey, two small girls with identical faces and long wavy blonde hair were swinging on the swings, feeling closer to each other than they've ever felt with anyone else.
"Let's share everything, Andy," one girl said.
"Like what, Ellen?" Andy said, kicking her legs harder to go higher, letting out a euphoric giggle.
"Like candy!" Andy said, matching her sister's laugh to a tee.
"And friends," Ellen said, three years later, when she was on a play-date with Andy's friends.
"And crushes," Andy giggled, five years later, when Ellen said she liked a celebrity that Andy also happened to like.
Seven years later, a boy approached the twins and told them that he had a problem. He liked both Ellen and Andy equally and that it was probably a stupid idea to ask, but if one of them liked him, he would ask her out on a date, and that would be that. The problem was, weeks ago, Ellen and Andy both had a crush on this boy, and told each other so. Ellen looked at Andy with a glimmer in her eye and grinned with a little evil in her otherwise sweet smile. "And boyfriends?" she asked, hinting at a long running dialogue the two must share.
Andy raised an eyebrow at her twin and produced an equally devilish smile. "And boyfriends."
The boy, who was named John, looked confused. "What?"
"You know," Andy purred, wrapping herself around his left arm, "we share everything."
"You do?" John said stupidly.
"Well," Ellen started slowly, wrapping herself around his right arm, "we do now."
Two years later, long after the John incident was over (because, John claimed, it was too weird to go out with twins at the same time, even though, apparently, it was every other guys' dream), Ellen happened to be having lunch with Andy when they spotted an attractive man talking to one of Andy's students.
"Oh my god," Andy said, tapping Ellen on the shoulder and pointing obviously in their direction. "Look at him; he's gorgeous!"
Ellen scoffed, because, really, Andy thought everyone with a Y chromosome was gorgeous, but she looked up and had to agree, "Damn, you're right." Andy looked at her sister with a look that said, Did you ever doubt me? Ellen picked up a piece of mandarin orange from her salad and pointed with it in the boys' direction before eating it. "Don't you know that kid? Don't you tutor him or something?"
Another one of Andy's evil grins formed on her face. "Hey, Leo!" she called, when Leo looked the least busy. Leo and his handsome grown-up friend looked her way. "C'mere," she beckoned with her hand. "Leo," she said again, when Leo was closer. "Who's your friend?" Her eyes were glimmering, and Ellen had to kick her sister lightly to reminder her to slow down and not scare away the prey.
"Hey, Andy," Leo nodded, "Ellen," another nod, "this is Charlie. Charlie," Leo said, gesturing at Andy and Ellen, "this is Natalya, my Music TA and tutor in all things related, and this is Lidiya, her twin sister. We call them Ellen and Andy for short."
Charlie shook their both their hands, adding "Nice to meet you both. I'm sort of Charlie's big brother, in a I've-known-him-since-he-was-five kind of way."
"Ooo," Andy said, raising an eyebrow, "that's a long time."
"Mmhmm," Ellen said, smirking up at them. "How come you've know him for so long? You aren't part of the Big Brother, Big Sister program, are you?" Because Ellen was, and she'd have remembered someone as good looking as Charlie. Andy already raised her eyebrows and looked at Ellen accusingly, saying I can't believe you didn't mention him to me without opening her mouth.
But Charlie shook his head, "No, nothing like that. I used to date Charlie's best friend's mom."
Andy visibly perked up at the words used to. "Wow, and you kept in touch for this long? You're eighteen now, aren't you, Leo?"
Leo nodded and opened his mouth to reply, but Charlie interrupted. "Oh, well, actually I've been with Carys the whole time. We've only recently drifted apart, and now I'm living in the same apartment building as Leo here." Charlie clamped down a hand on Leo's shoulder.
"Wow, thirteen years," Ellen purred. "I'm sorry it didn't work out between you two."
"Oh, well, you know." Charlie shrugged. "People drift apart. It was mutual, the breakup, so it's not like there were any hurt feelings."
"Well still," Andy said, "it must be lonely at night, all by yourself? Especially after thirteen years of having someone next to you."
Leo's jaw dropped slightly, but the others didn't notice.
"Yeah," Ellen drawled, "and we totally understand, because we just broke up with our boyfriend," and Ellen was careful to emphasize the singular aspect of "boyfriend", "so if you ever need someone to talk to..." She trailed off, licking her fork, even though there was nothing on it.
"Hm," Charlie said, brightening. "I will definitely keep that in mind. In fact, do you girls have numbers I can have?"
They did.
Leo, who was forgotten, stood there still not believing what had just happened. He realized his mouth was still open and closed it. One thing was for sure: he had to find Lily right away.
Leo found Lily in the library ten minutes later, taking a break from studying with her laptop open to the Astronomy Picture of the Day. "Hey," she said absently, "did you find Charlie?"
"Yeah, yeah," Leo said, giving her the textbook Charlie had brought because Lily had forgotten it. "I have to tell you something. It's important."
Lily tore her eyes away from the picture of the day, and frowned. "How important?"
"Someone-is-stealing-Charlie-from-you important." Leo paused and thought about it. "Actually, more like two people."
"One, Charlie is not mine to steal from, and two, two people?" Lily looked fairly interested. "Is there gonna be a cat fight?"
"Okay, it's a long story, but you know my tutor for Communications? The one helping me on what classes to take to graduate early?"
"Mmmhm. The one with the twin?"
"Yeah, yeah, Andy and Ellen. A couple years ago, there was a rumor going around that they share everything, including boyfriends, and I can confirm that rumor." Leo said very quickly, rushing the last part.
"What do you-" And then everything that Leo said since he came back to the library clicked. "Your tutor and her twin sister are hitting on Charlie together?" Lily asked skeptically. "Yeah, right."
"I am serious. The three of them just exchanged numbers, and then it got weird so I just bolted of there."
Lily's heart thudded a little louder, but this was not news. "Leo, my mom and Charlie broke up a month ago. This is obviously rebound sex."
"Yes, duh, but aren't you forgetting something important?" he asked, emphasizing the last couple of words. "Aren't you in love with Charlie?" he whispered urgently. "If he's into those two, he can be into you too. They're only four years older than you!"
"But he hasn't seen them before puberty and during puberty. He gets to see them as their gorgeous twenty-two year old selves. Me? He'll probably always see me as the kid who threw up on him when I ate too much before getting on the Merry-Go-Round."
Leo still looked devastated, because really, he just wanted Lily to be happy, so he went to Charlie that night. He knew Lily was going to be too immersed into her TV shows to pay attention to what they were talking about in the kitchen. Leo folded his hands and gave Charlie a stern look. "Lily loves you." Leo said bluntly, not really caring whether or not this was appropriate. "And no, she doesn't see you as a father figure or family or anything like that. She is in love with you."
Charlie, who was getting baby carrots and dip to eat in front of the TV, stopped what he was doing. Charlie looked like he was thinking, and it was the weirdest three seconds of Leo's life. Then, Charlie looked at Leo, a little confused. "And why are you telling me this? Better question, does Lily know you're telling me?"
Leo frowned. "I tell you someone is in love with you, and you want to know why I'm telling you? You're going to go out with the twins, right? Don't you know how hurt Lily's going to be?"
Charlie sighed and smiled sadly. "I think you and Lily are a little confused, Leo. Lily is not in love with me." And with that, Charlie picked up his dish and went into the living room.
Leo, exasperated, left the apartment.
Charlie plopped down next to Lily, and watched Leo leave the apartment, clearly angry. Charlie looked at him sympathetically. Leo, Charlie thought, sadly, looking down at Lily, who was taking a sip a drink of water. There are things you don't understand. Charlie closed his eyes and sat back on the couch. You'll end up loving her in the end, and I can't stand in the way of fate.
They both chomped on carrots for eight or so minutes, until the commercials came on. Charlie hadn't really been paying attention; he was still thinking about what Leo said. Lily? In love with me?
Charlie leaned back into the couch. "Lily?" he inquired, waiting for her to look back at him.
"Hm?"
"Are you in love with me?"
Lily stopped chewing on her carrot and raised an eyebrow. Seconds ticked by and Charlie felt the tension in his shoulder grow. Then, she grinned, and said, "Yeah right. You wish." She turned back to the TV and picked up another carrot. "Who told you that, anyway? Leo?"
Charlie leaned forward to look at Lily's profile. "Maybe. He said you'd have a problem with me going out again."
She shrugged. "Only because he thinks you were with my mom for, like, fifty years." She turned to him suddenly, and put her hands on his shoulders. "Charlie, I think he's worried about you!"
"Ha ha," Charlie said, brushing her hands off. "Very funny."
She smirked at him and put the rest of the carrot in her mouth.
The matter wasn't brought up again until Charlie got back from the bathroom. He sat back down and asked, as casually as he could, "So, you would be okay with me going out with someone? For real this time?"
"Yeah, sure," she said. "You go out with your twin. Have fun."
Charlie laughed. "Actually, apparently, they both want to go out with me. I think they have this weird kink where-"
"Ah, ah, ah!" Lily shouted, plugging her ears with her fingers. "I never wanted to hear about your love life before, and I certainly don't want to hear about it now!"
Charlie stopped to laugh at her, and she pouted at him. This is nice, Charlie thought, as they both leaned back to watch the news.
They just finished a story on the war overseas, when the anchorman said, "Folks, we just got some Breaking News! Hayley Reid, only daughter of billionaire Jeff Reid, was found dead just a couple of minutes ago. Nothing is known about her sudden death, but she does have a shaky past. Our hearts go out to Jeff Reid and his family on this sad day. Jane?"
The camera went to the anchorwoman. "That's right, Ted, a sad day indeed for the Reid family. We'll bring you updates on the story as they come in. Now, onto Maria, who has a story about-"
"Psh," Lily said. "That's not so surprising. She did that bondage porn tape a couple of years ago, she went to jail for almost running over a woman with her car, and she did coke daily. I'm surprised she lived as long as she did."
"Now, now," Charlie said as his cell phone went off. "Be nice. The girl just died, and you're already griping about it. Ever heard of respect for the dead?"
"I'm not giving respect to someone who didn't respect her own life when she was living."
Charlie rolled his eyes and answered his phone. "Sanders." The person on the other line said something, and Charlie jumped up, and left the room aburptly.
What was that all about? Lily thought, turning her eyes back to the TV.
Fifteen minutes later, Charlie came out, smiling apologetically at Lily, "Sorry, Lily, I have to run out. Job thing."
"Oh, okay," Lily said, straightening up. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. They need some expertise help on a case," he said, puffing out his chest, "so they called Yours Truly. I'll be back in a couple hours. I called your mom, and she's on her way over."
"Ugh, Charlie, I don't need a babysitter! I'll be just fine, thank you!" Frustrated, she turned off the TV and stomped to her room, slamming the door after she went in.
"She's not coming here to babysit," he called after her. He sighed and knocked on her door. "Lily, we're just worried, that's all. There's still someone out to get you, in case you forgot."
He heard a mumbling from behind the door. "What's that? I didn't catch what you said."
The door opened, and Lily was standing there with her arms crossed. "I said, no, I didn't forget."
"Good. Now be a good girl and stay alive until I get back, okay?"
Lily didn't say anything, but she nodded and went back to sit on the couch.
Title: Government Bribes - Chapter 6
Author: doctorfumbles
Rating: pg13
Word Count: 2195
Fandom: Original (Government Bribes)
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Lily, Leo, Agent Sanders, Natalya, Lidiya
Summary: Trouble looms over the horizon as Leo's tutor, and her sister, are both interested in Charlie.
Disclaimer: fic-tion n. something feigned, invented, or imagined; a made-up story
Seventeen years ago, in a town between San Francisco and Monterey, two small girls with identical faces and long wavy blonde hair were swinging on the swings, feeling closer to each other than they've ever felt with anyone else.
"Let's share everything, Andy," one girl said.
"Like what, Ellen?" Andy said, kicking her legs harder to go higher, letting out a euphoric giggle.
"Like candy!" Andy said, matching her sister's laugh to a tee.
"And friends," Ellen said, three years later, when she was on a play-date with Andy's friends.
"And crushes," Andy giggled, five years later, when Ellen said she liked a celebrity that Andy also happened to like.
Seven years later, a boy approached the twins and told them that he had a problem. He liked both Ellen and Andy equally and that it was probably a stupid idea to ask, but if one of them liked him, he would ask her out on a date, and that would be that. The problem was, weeks ago, Ellen and Andy both had a crush on this boy, and told each other so. Ellen looked at Andy with a glimmer in her eye and grinned with a little evil in her otherwise sweet smile. "And boyfriends?" she asked, hinting at a long running dialogue the two must share.
Andy raised an eyebrow at her twin and produced an equally devilish smile. "And boyfriends."
The boy, who was named John, looked confused. "What?"
"You know," Andy purred, wrapping herself around his left arm, "we share everything."
"You do?" John said stupidly.
"Well," Ellen started slowly, wrapping herself around his right arm, "we do now."
Two years later, long after the John incident was over (because, John claimed, it was too weird to go out with twins at the same time, even though, apparently, it was every other guys' dream), Ellen happened to be having lunch with Andy when they spotted an attractive man talking to one of Andy's students.
"Oh my god," Andy said, tapping Ellen on the shoulder and pointing obviously in their direction. "Look at him; he's gorgeous!"
Ellen scoffed, because, really, Andy thought everyone with a Y chromosome was gorgeous, but she looked up and had to agree, "Damn, you're right." Andy looked at her sister with a look that said, Did you ever doubt me? Ellen picked up a piece of mandarin orange from her salad and pointed with it in the boys' direction before eating it. "Don't you know that kid? Don't you tutor him or something?"
Another one of Andy's evil grins formed on her face. "Hey, Leo!" she called, when Leo looked the least busy. Leo and his handsome grown-up friend looked her way. "C'mere," she beckoned with her hand. "Leo," she said again, when Leo was closer. "Who's your friend?" Her eyes were glimmering, and Ellen had to kick her sister lightly to reminder her to slow down and not scare away the prey.
"Hey, Andy," Leo nodded, "Ellen," another nod, "this is Charlie. Charlie," Leo said, gesturing at Andy and Ellen, "this is Natalya, my Music TA and tutor in all things related, and this is Lidiya, her twin sister. We call them Ellen and Andy for short."
Charlie shook their both their hands, adding "Nice to meet you both. I'm sort of Charlie's big brother, in a I've-known-him-since-he-was-five kind of way."
"Ooo," Andy said, raising an eyebrow, "that's a long time."
"Mmhmm," Ellen said, smirking up at them. "How come you've know him for so long? You aren't part of the Big Brother, Big Sister program, are you?" Because Ellen was, and she'd have remembered someone as good looking as Charlie. Andy already raised her eyebrows and looked at Ellen accusingly, saying I can't believe you didn't mention him to me without opening her mouth.
But Charlie shook his head, "No, nothing like that. I used to date Charlie's best friend's mom."
Andy visibly perked up at the words used to. "Wow, and you kept in touch for this long? You're eighteen now, aren't you, Leo?"
Leo nodded and opened his mouth to reply, but Charlie interrupted. "Oh, well, actually I've been with Carys the whole time. We've only recently drifted apart, and now I'm living in the same apartment building as Leo here." Charlie clamped down a hand on Leo's shoulder.
"Wow, thirteen years," Ellen purred. "I'm sorry it didn't work out between you two."
"Oh, well, you know." Charlie shrugged. "People drift apart. It was mutual, the breakup, so it's not like there were any hurt feelings."
"Well still," Andy said, "it must be lonely at night, all by yourself? Especially after thirteen years of having someone next to you."
Leo's jaw dropped slightly, but the others didn't notice.
"Yeah," Ellen drawled, "and we totally understand, because we just broke up with our boyfriend," and Ellen was careful to emphasize the singular aspect of "boyfriend", "so if you ever need someone to talk to..." She trailed off, licking her fork, even though there was nothing on it.
"Hm," Charlie said, brightening. "I will definitely keep that in mind. In fact, do you girls have numbers I can have?"
They did.
Leo, who was forgotten, stood there still not believing what had just happened. He realized his mouth was still open and closed it. One thing was for sure: he had to find Lily right away.
Leo found Lily in the library ten minutes later, taking a break from studying with her laptop open to the Astronomy Picture of the Day. "Hey," she said absently, "did you find Charlie?"
"Yeah, yeah," Leo said, giving her the textbook Charlie had brought because Lily had forgotten it. "I have to tell you something. It's important."
Lily tore her eyes away from the picture of the day, and frowned. "How important?"
"Someone-is-stealing-Charlie-from-you important." Leo paused and thought about it. "Actually, more like two people."
"One, Charlie is not mine to steal from, and two, two people?" Lily looked fairly interested. "Is there gonna be a cat fight?"
"Okay, it's a long story, but you know my tutor for Communications? The one helping me on what classes to take to graduate early?"
"Mmmhm. The one with the twin?"
"Yeah, yeah, Andy and Ellen. A couple years ago, there was a rumor going around that they share everything, including boyfriends, and I can confirm that rumor." Leo said very quickly, rushing the last part.
"What do you-" And then everything that Leo said since he came back to the library clicked. "Your tutor and her twin sister are hitting on Charlie together?" Lily asked skeptically. "Yeah, right."
"I am serious. The three of them just exchanged numbers, and then it got weird so I just bolted of there."
Lily's heart thudded a little louder, but this was not news. "Leo, my mom and Charlie broke up a month ago. This is obviously rebound sex."
"Yes, duh, but aren't you forgetting something important?" he asked, emphasizing the last couple of words. "Aren't you in love with Charlie?" he whispered urgently. "If he's into those two, he can be into you too. They're only four years older than you!"
"But he hasn't seen them before puberty and during puberty. He gets to see them as their gorgeous twenty-two year old selves. Me? He'll probably always see me as the kid who threw up on him when I ate too much before getting on the Merry-Go-Round."
Leo still looked devastated, because really, he just wanted Lily to be happy, so he went to Charlie that night. He knew Lily was going to be too immersed into her TV shows to pay attention to what they were talking about in the kitchen. Leo folded his hands and gave Charlie a stern look. "Lily loves you." Leo said bluntly, not really caring whether or not this was appropriate. "And no, she doesn't see you as a father figure or family or anything like that. She is in love with you."
Charlie, who was getting baby carrots and dip to eat in front of the TV, stopped what he was doing. Charlie looked like he was thinking, and it was the weirdest three seconds of Leo's life. Then, Charlie looked at Leo, a little confused. "And why are you telling me this? Better question, does Lily know you're telling me?"
Leo frowned. "I tell you someone is in love with you, and you want to know why I'm telling you? You're going to go out with the twins, right? Don't you know how hurt Lily's going to be?"
Charlie sighed and smiled sadly. "I think you and Lily are a little confused, Leo. Lily is not in love with me." And with that, Charlie picked up his dish and went into the living room.
Leo, exasperated, left the apartment.
Charlie plopped down next to Lily, and watched Leo leave the apartment, clearly angry. Charlie looked at him sympathetically. Leo, Charlie thought, sadly, looking down at Lily, who was taking a sip a drink of water. There are things you don't understand. Charlie closed his eyes and sat back on the couch. You'll end up loving her in the end, and I can't stand in the way of fate.
They both chomped on carrots for eight or so minutes, until the commercials came on. Charlie hadn't really been paying attention; he was still thinking about what Leo said. Lily? In love with me?
Charlie leaned back into the couch. "Lily?" he inquired, waiting for her to look back at him.
"Hm?"
"Are you in love with me?"
Lily stopped chewing on her carrot and raised an eyebrow. Seconds ticked by and Charlie felt the tension in his shoulder grow. Then, she grinned, and said, "Yeah right. You wish." She turned back to the TV and picked up another carrot. "Who told you that, anyway? Leo?"
Charlie leaned forward to look at Lily's profile. "Maybe. He said you'd have a problem with me going out again."
She shrugged. "Only because he thinks you were with my mom for, like, fifty years." She turned to him suddenly, and put her hands on his shoulders. "Charlie, I think he's worried about you!"
"Ha ha," Charlie said, brushing her hands off. "Very funny."
She smirked at him and put the rest of the carrot in her mouth.
The matter wasn't brought up again until Charlie got back from the bathroom. He sat back down and asked, as casually as he could, "So, you would be okay with me going out with someone? For real this time?"
"Yeah, sure," she said. "You go out with your twin. Have fun."
Charlie laughed. "Actually, apparently, they both want to go out with me. I think they have this weird kink where-"
"Ah, ah, ah!" Lily shouted, plugging her ears with her fingers. "I never wanted to hear about your love life before, and I certainly don't want to hear about it now!"
Charlie stopped to laugh at her, and she pouted at him. This is nice, Charlie thought, as they both leaned back to watch the news.
They just finished a story on the war overseas, when the anchorman said, "Folks, we just got some Breaking News! Hayley Reid, only daughter of billionaire Jeff Reid, was found dead just a couple of minutes ago. Nothing is known about her sudden death, but she does have a shaky past. Our hearts go out to Jeff Reid and his family on this sad day. Jane?"
The camera went to the anchorwoman. "That's right, Ted, a sad day indeed for the Reid family. We'll bring you updates on the story as they come in. Now, onto Maria, who has a story about-"
"Psh," Lily said. "That's not so surprising. She did that bondage porn tape a couple of years ago, she went to jail for almost running over a woman with her car, and she did coke daily. I'm surprised she lived as long as she did."
"Now, now," Charlie said as his cell phone went off. "Be nice. The girl just died, and you're already griping about it. Ever heard of respect for the dead?"
"I'm not giving respect to someone who didn't respect her own life when she was living."
Charlie rolled his eyes and answered his phone. "Sanders." The person on the other line said something, and Charlie jumped up, and left the room aburptly.
What was that all about? Lily thought, turning her eyes back to the TV.
Fifteen minutes later, Charlie came out, smiling apologetically at Lily, "Sorry, Lily, I have to run out. Job thing."
"Oh, okay," Lily said, straightening up. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. They need some expertise help on a case," he said, puffing out his chest, "so they called Yours Truly. I'll be back in a couple hours. I called your mom, and she's on her way over."
"Ugh, Charlie, I don't need a babysitter! I'll be just fine, thank you!" Frustrated, she turned off the TV and stomped to her room, slamming the door after she went in.
"She's not coming here to babysit," he called after her. He sighed and knocked on her door. "Lily, we're just worried, that's all. There's still someone out to get you, in case you forgot."
He heard a mumbling from behind the door. "What's that? I didn't catch what you said."
The door opened, and Lily was standing there with her arms crossed. "I said, no, I didn't forget."
"Good. Now be a good girl and stay alive until I get back, okay?"
Lily didn't say anything, but she nodded and went back to sit on the couch.